Editor’s Note: In a Perfect World

10/30/2013 8:00:00 PM

One of the best experiences at Tech&Learning’s most
recent SchoolCIO Summit, which was held last
September in Denver, CO, was when we forced, er,
requested the 50 or so attending district executives to
participate in some group management role play.

Now, any veteran of professional development
retreats will tell you that these exercises can be at best awkward and
at worst embarrassing. But thanks to the mastery of T&L advisors
Hank Thiele, chief technology officer for the Maine 207 Schools
in Park Ridge, IL, and Carl Hooker, Director of instructional
technology at Eanes ISD(TX), as well as gathering the collective
feedback from these executives by using the group
editing features of Google docs, the session ended with
some of the most cogent, insightful analysis we’ve had
the pleasure to publish. From budgets to resources to
social media strategies, this wish list should be a useful
roadmap. Be sure to also
go online to www.schoolcio.com/ciosummits to dive
into the full complement of presentations and session
conversations.

While we are on the subject of utopian scenarios,
managing editor Christine Weiser interviews James
Aldridge, chief technology officer for MSD of Warren
Township in Indianapolis, IN, who recently redesigned
200,000 square feet of his district’s libraries and
classrooms into modern creative learning spaces. While his experience during the process was a bit
less than perfect, the end result makes me want to move
to Indy only so that my kids can go to school there.

As always, feel free to get in touch to share your own
best-case scenarios. We’d love to hear them.